


Things Observed in Combat

by cat_77



Series: Flufftober 2018 [16]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 01:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16316273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cat_77/pseuds/cat_77
Summary: A not so small part of him knew that bias and hatred would always be there, lurking in the background, waiting for a moment to come back into the light.  That didn’t mean that he didn’t wish it could be another way.Maybe it could.





	Things Observed in Combat

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt of “hug.”
> 
> * * *

Circle members. Attacking his people. He thought they were done with this nonsense. Clearly not. A not so small part of him knew that bias and hatred would always be there, lurking in the background, waiting for a moment to come back into the light. That didn’t mean that he didn’t wish it could be another way.

Alexander had rallied his troops and, Magnus was pleased to see, a lot more Shadowhunters than he first thought would be willing to do so volunteered for the mission. There were the usual suspects of Jace and Clary and Isabelle, but there were probably an even dozen if not more who readily stepped up. Part of him feared it was to map out some warlock weaknesses. A lot of him knew that the fact it was Circle members, the blight of Shadowhunters’ existence, that played the largest role. 

That didn’t mean that he didn’t keep an eye on his supposed allies, even as they easily captured or ran off the enemy. Which is when he saw it.

The battle was over with only the injured and the destruction left in its wake left to take care of. A handful of warlocks were still scattered about, all far too young and too weak to have escaped on their own. Some still wore chains to dampen their powers, other bore the marks of Valentine’s beloved injections, though thankfully he knew for a fact that they had only been held captive for a day or more and far worse options had yet to be acquired.

There was a noise from the cupboard near the sink of the abandoned restaurant-turned-laboratory. His Alexander approached cautiously, trading bow for blade due to the confined area. He opened the door, body blocking from Magnus’ view whatever it held inside. He barely heard the “Come on out, it’s safe now,” before there was a blur of dirty pink hurled in his lover’s direction.

Alexander, for his part, barely flinched. He raised himself up from his kneeled position, one hand still on his blade and the other cradling a toddler no more than two years old. Her red curls were matted and she utterly filthy but otherwise appeared to be unscathed. Her chubby little arms were wrapped tight around her rescuer’s neck and, when she dared to raise her head to look around them, Magnus saw tracks from her tears against the dirt.

“Shh, I’ve got you,” Alexander promised. The child’s response was to wrap her tail up and around his arm, which only made him chuckle and try to sooth her again.

“Looks like you made a friend,” Magnus commented as he approached.

He didn’t get far before he heard a gasp of, “Ann Marie!” He turned to find the source to discover a recently freed warlock, hands already alight and clearly aimed in his lover’s direction. He easily stepped into her path and held up his own hand, blue flames dancing along his fingertips, and let his true eyes shine bright. “The hunter has Ann Marie,” the woman protested.

“The ‘hunter’ as you call him, is Alexander Lightwood,” he told her calmly in difference to the flames that still danced along his skin.

Her own flames went out immediately. “Alexander? As in... Magnus?” she confirmed, brushing her own knotted hair out of her eyes. At his nod, she seemed to visibly deflate, either in defeat or relief, he wasn’t certain. “The others, the ones that took us...”

“Were Circle members and will be dealt with appropriately,” he promised.

“She’s like a little sister to me, technically is,” the warlock babbled. “We share the same sire though different mothers. Hers abandoned her, so I took her in - there was no way I was going to let her face life alone.”

“You’ve done an admirable job,” Magnus assured her.

That only earned him a scoff. “I managed to get us caught,” she corrected. She paused and watched as the Nephilim she had been ready to fry produced a rag out of nowhere and began to wipe down the child’s face. “He really is what the rumors say he is, isn’t he? A friend to the Downworlders, a protector of sorts?” she asked, chagrined.

“All that, and more,” Magnus assured her, followed by an admittance of, “I might be a little biased though.”

That earned him the slightest of smiles. He could tell she was still a little antsy and needed to see for herself that her self-chosen charge was okay. He stepped to the side and let her pass, fairly confident that she would not attack now that she knew what she was facing.

A little bit cleaner than before, Ann Marie was released to the wilds, that is, to run to the waiting arms of her family. “Maggie!” the tiny thing squealed in delight. The sisters held each other tightly but before the elder could fully pick up the child and walk away, the toddler broke free. She marched right back over to Alec and tugged on his pants leg, heedless of the weaponry so close by.

He readily crouched back down to her level and asked, “Did you need something, sweetheart?”

Ann Marie’s response was to throw herself at him again, tiny arms as tight as she could manage around his rib cage. “Thank you,” she declared proudly, and a little loudly.

“Any time,” Alexander promised as he hugged her back just as tightly. He eventually released her and she toddled off with her sister and the promise that they would call if they needed anything. Magnus may have possibly given them both a once or twice over with his own magic to make sure there were no hidden injuries and may have possibly healed the few that he found in the process, earning him an eye roll from one and a giggle from the other.

Satisfied that that nothing else lurked in any corner, dark or no, he finally sauntered back over to where Alexander directed his team to triple check anyway, just to be sure. He waited until everyone ran off to their appointed duties before he commented, “That’s a good look on you.”

“Covered in dirt and ordering people around?” 

“Well, that too,” Magnus admitted with the required leer, just to earn the laugh like he knew it would. 

“I like kids,” Alec shrugged as the pronouncement didn’t rattle something deep in Magnus’ heart. There was still much to do though, so he pocketed that particular thought for later when he had the appropriate amount of time to go over every detail and give each the required cooing it deserved. He may not have been quite as successful as he had hoped in hiding his admiration, however, as he caught an eye roll and a huffed, “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Never,” Magnus promised.


End file.
